This specification generally relates to cloud computing.
In cloud computing, a set of shared computing resources, storage resources, and network resources can be provisioned to users on demand, generally in the form of virtual machines. Multiple physical computing appliances, e.g., computers in a server farm, can provide a service platform for on-demand provisioning of these resources. The service platform is sometimes referred to as infrastructure as a service (IaaS). A set of services can enable software developers to develop, launch, and manage application programs, generally referred to simply as applications, without interacting directly with the appliances of the IaaS. An example service platform is VMware vSphere™ cloud platform software installed on a rack of Intel™ processor-based physical servers to manage these physical servers as a set of shared cloud resources.
A deployment platform can automate and simplify transforming source code or binary code representation of an application into a running instance of that application using IaaS resources. The running instance can then be accessed by end users. The deployment platform is sometimes referred to as a cloud-based application deployment platform or platform as a service (PaaS). An example of a cloud-based application deployment platform is a Pivotal Cloud Foundry® software product deployed on a set of vSphere-based cloud appliances.